Food handling apparatus



Sept. 10,1946. j 'e. R. wooD 2,407,525

FOOD HANDLING APPARATUS I Filed April 12, 1943 INVENTOR. GEORGE R. WOODPatented Sept. 10, 1946 George It. Wood,

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Toledo Scale Company, Toledo,Ohio,

a corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1943, Serial No.482,765

This invention relates to food handling apparatus of the type in whicha' commodity to be sliced is reciprocated past the edge of a circularrotary knife, being slid along the face of a gauge plate which issubstantially parallel to'the plane of the edge of the knife and isadjustable in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto to varythe thickness of the slice severed during eachwstroke, and moreparticularly to the commodity-carrying member of such a machine and tomeans forholding commodities in place on such a commodity-carrying-member.

The commodity-carrying member of a slicing machine, usually called thecommodity tray or trough, comprises a trough-like structure which is.mounted for reciprocation on a" slicing machine base to carry themainpiece of commodity past the exposed edgeof the knife. A commodity trayis usually provided with a commodity clamp which may be fed transverselyacross the commodity tray toward the plane of the knife by means of aspring to force the commidity against the gauge passes over the edge ofthe knife. Such a clamp has'avertical forward face which issubstantial-- ly parallel to the face of the gauge plate and the planeof the knife and serves its purpose excellently when the commodity has asubstantial cross section soithat itcan be pushed from the rear. A clampof this typemay also have commodity-engaging prongs on its lower edgewhich can be forced downwardly into a flat commodity, such as 2, baconslab, to feed the commodity toward the knife. such as bologna, liversausage, thuringer, and others, have a length substantially greater thantheir cross section and cannot be fed by pressure at the rear becausethey would buckle and not remain flush against the face of the gaugeplate. Neither can they be fed by engagement with the commodity engagingprongs, used for feeding a commodity such as bacon because, since manyof themare round in cross section, they would not be held stationary.

Itis an object of this invention to provide a commodity clamp havingcommodity engaging members, which will serve to hold a smallcylindrical-shaped commodity firmly in place so it may be fed by springaction.

It is another object of this invention to provide a commodity clamphaving commodity engaging members located to pierce and hold a commodityof small cross section in the angular intersection of the faces of atrough-shaped plate as it approaches and,

However, many commodities,

2 Claims. (Cl. 146- 102) 2' commodity tray .and to feed such commoditytoward the knife blade. v

It no, further object of this invention to provide a commodity clamphaving a section which can be frictionally. engaged with the surface ofa commodity of small circular cross section to hold the commoditystationary and to permit it to be fed manually toward the gauge plate.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a commodity clampfor use in manual feeding' of commodities of small circular or other,

cross section which will'assist in holding the commodities firmly andwill also protect the hands of the operator. I

More specific objects and advantages are apparent from the description,in which reference is had tothe accompanying drawing illustrating apreferred form of device embodying the invention.

In the drawing: v

Fig; I is a view, in elevation, of a slicing ma chine employing acommodity clamp embodying the invention.

Fig. II is a fragmentary enlarged view; in elevation, of a commodityclamp embodying the invention and in a 'diiferent operating positionthan that shown in Fig. I.

Fig. III is an enlarg d vertical sectional view,

takenfsubstantially on the line III-III of Fig. I.

1 The specific drawing and the specific description that follows merelydisclose and illustrate the invention and are not intended to imposelimitations upon the claims.

A slicing machine, which is adapted to employ a commodity clampembodying the invention, comprises a base it) on which is erecteddriving andijournaling means for a rotary circular knife H which isguarded by means of a knife guard l2, also mounted on the base, and agauge plate l3 mounted on the base with its face in a plane parallel totheplane of the edge of the knife H and with its edge closely adjacentthe edge of the knife II. The gauge plate 13 is adjustable on a lineperpendicular to the plane of its face by means of a gauge plateadjusting and indicating w front of the base I5 is mounted for knob Mwhich is located at the ID, A commodity tray carriage "reciprocation onthe base l0 past the edge of the the tray Ii. An angular commodity clamparm 20 is slidably mounted on the rod I8 for movement transverselyacross the commodity tray I! on a line perpendicular to the face of thegauge plate I3. A spring 2i surrounds the shaft I8, being engagedbetween one of the ears I9 and the portion of the arm 20, whichsurrounds the shaft I8, both to urge the rm toward the knife and toswing it in a counterclockwise direction (Figs. I and II) downwardlytoward the commodity tray IT.

A commodity clamp 22, which comprises a stamped plate having twoturned-over ends 24 and 25 and a turned-over flange 26, is swivelablymounted in a hub 21 formed on the end of the arm 29 with the face of theplate 23 in a plane parallel to the gauge plate I3 and knife I I. Theclamp 22 is swivelecl in the hub 27 by means of a pin 28, the head ofwhich fits into an aperture 29 in the plate 23 and which serves as anaxis for a disk 30 which is riveted to the rear face of the plate 23 andlocated in a counterbore 3i in the hub 21. The pin 28 is forced into thehub 21 and thus remains stationary, permitting the disk 3e, and plate 23riveted thereto, to revolve. A plurality of commodity engaging points 32are riveted to the forward face of the plate 23 to engage the rear ofcommodities to be pushed against the face plate I3 and knife I I. A Ushaped, pronged member 33 is riveted to the urned-over flange 25 ofthe'plate 23 and two slide 34, which extend below the points of thepronged member 33, are riveted to the end 24 and 25 of the plate 33 atthe ends of the flange The pronged member 33, when the commodity clamp22 is swiveled slightly more in a clockwise direction than shown in Fig.I, serves to engage the upper surface of commodities, such as bacon, andto feed such commodities toward the gauge plate. The slides 3.4 hold thecommodity clamp with the points of the pronged member 33 out ofengagement with the bottom plate of the commodity tray I! to preventdamage to the points of the pronged member 33 or to the commodity tray.

At the lower portion of the turned-over side 25 of the plate 23 there islocated a series of commodity engaging prongs 35 which are shown in I asengaged in a sausage-like commodity 35. The action of the spring I8forces the arm in a counterclockwise direction inserting the prongs35-into the commodity 36 and also pushes the arm '29, commodity clamp 22and engaged commodity toward the gauge plate I3 while holding thecommodity in the corner of the commodity tray Il Thus the commodityclamp holds the commodity against rotation, forces it firmly into thecorner of the commodity tray to prevent its buckling, and feeds itagainst the face of the gauge plate to insure even, parallel slicesbeing severed.

In Fig. II the commodity tray is shown swung through 180 with the warpedor turned-over end 24 of the plate 23 shown located in position to holda commodity 31 having a circular cross section in the corner of thecommodity tray II. This is particularly useful when the commodity is toosmall in diameter to enable the use of the prongs 35, or when it is toosoft to be fed forward by the engagement of the prongs 35 therein (in anxc ed n y soft c mm d ty, th p s would merely rip the commodity ratherthan feed it). In this event the clamp 22 is used only to hold thecommodity 31 in the corner of the tray to prevent its buckling and thecommodity is fed forward manually, the plate 23 serving as a guard forthe operators fingers.

Because the arm 28 is resiliently forced in a counterclockwisedirection, and the commodity clamp 22 is swivelable, the two ends 24 and25 with their respective commodity engaging surfaces, or members, may beadapted to hold commodities of various cross sections for proper slicandfeeding-either automatic or manual.

The embodiment of the invention that has been disclosed may be modifiedto meet various eq irem nts- Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Commodity feeding means for a slicing machine having a commoditycarrier with two angularly intersecting sides comprising a pusher plateand means for moving said plate across said carrier, said plate having aface lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the direction ofmovement of said, plate and having iommodi y engaging members extendingfrom its edges in at least two different directions, all of said ena inm m e s l ng n su ta tia y e m p a e, said p te bein sw velably mountedon. a aXis substantially parallel to its direction of movement andhaving at least one smooth surf ced r l ev d orner hav ng a s a e of sustantial width parallel to the sides of the carrier positionable inthecorner formed by the intersecting sides of said commodity carrier toform wi s i sides a gui e r ugh which a com- 7 modity of small crosssection may be fed and resilient, means fo urging said plate toward suchcorner.

2. A commodity clamp for a slicing machine having a V-shaped commoditycarrier, comprising a generally rectangular pusher plate fitted w th ommdi y n gi embe s. o s ace and some of its edges and mounted forreciprocation along said V-shaped carrier with its face perpendicular toits path of movement, said plate being rotatable topresent any of itsedges to the surface of said carrier and having one of its edges formedwith a smooth warped surface of substantial width adapted to cooperatewith the corner of said V-shaped carrier to form a funnel shaped guidethrough which commodities may be manually fed.

GEORGE R. WOOD.

